Fruit & Veg Month

Fruit & Veg Month 2018 was held from Monday 3 September to Friday 28 September. An amazing 838 primary schools across NSW were registered! That means that more than 223,000 students were involved in school-based activities that encouraged them to eat more fruit and vegetables.

The theme for this year was ‘Happy Fruit & Veg’tember!’

Aussie kids don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables. If we want kids to eat more fruit and veg we need to market them better. That’s why this year’s theme was all about getting happy with fruit and vegetables!

Thank you to the many families who entered the Fruit & Veg Month 2018 Family Challenge. Winners have been now been notified. Congratulations to the Smith, Vista, and Reeves families!

Although each of these families’ entries were unique, there was one thing they all had in common – the whole family worked together! Involving your children in meal planning, preparation and cooking is a fantastic way to help them become adventurous eaters!

The Vista family got really adventurous with adding extra vegies to their hamburger patties, trying a vegetable twist on an old favourite (lasagne), adding extra veg to their pizza and experimenting with vegetable pancakes. The Smith family used the amazing colours of fruits and vegetables to make their meals and snacks look exciting as well as being tasty. And the Reeves family worked hard to include lots of new fruit and vegetables across a really wide range of dishes – noodle soup, breakfast bowl, fruit salad and a new take on the traditional roast dinner!

Quotes from teachers involved in Fruit & Veg Month in previous years:

Fantastic resources and an absolutely amazing initiative and my school loves participating in it every year. I continually have parents coming up to me and commenting on the change in their children and their willingness to attempt more fruit and vegetables at school and at home

The resources that you produce are of an excellent quality and are extremely useful teaching resources for future years. Congratulations on such a wonderful initiative!

The lessons were excellent, short sharp and to the point and gave students success and knowledge around why it’s important

A pilot evaluation of the impact of the 2017 Fruit & Veg Month lessons on students’ knowledge and behavioural intent found:

Students’ knowledge of fruit and vegetables increased after participation in each lesson, in particular, students’ knowledge of how many serves of fruit and vegetables should be included in the diet each day

Positive attitudes towards fruit and vegetables increased after participation in the lessons

Behavioural intent around capacity and desire to eat more fruit and vegetables increased after participation in the lessons

Most teachers believed their students would change their eating habits to become healthier as a result of the lesson taught

All teachers believed that the lessons were an engaging way to encourage students to eat more fruit and vegetables

You can still download the 2015,2016,2017 and 2018 Teacher’s Booklets, which include curriculum materials based around healthy eating. You can also continue to access the 2016 and 2017 Fruit & Veg Month interactive whiteboard materials.

Fruit & Veg Month vs Fresh for Kids Canteen Campaign

We know there is a bit of confusion about the two fruit and vegetable campaigns held in NSW schools in early spring each year: Healthy Kids Associations’ Fruit & Veg Month; and Sydney Markets’ Fresh for Kids Canteen Campaign.

Did you know that schools can register for both programs? In fact, they make perfect partners! What is taught in the classroom gets reinforced at the canteen.